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Yūdai Yamato
Background Yamato was Seigaku's captain during Tezuka Kunimitsu, Oishi Shuichiro, Shūsuke Fuji, Kikumaru Eiji, Kawamura Takashi's freshman year. Similar to Tezuka, during a match he went beyond the limitations of his arms capabilites and damaged his dominant arm severely to the point that tennis would no longer be possible. After an unspecified amount of time, it is revealed that Yamato had an operation to fix his arm. Within these two years, he drastically improved as a player to the point that Yamato was able to join U-17 and reunite with Tezuka with a whole new appearance. Both Tezuka and Yamato were selected to play Singles 2 during the Team Shuffle, where Yamato played his apparent retirement match against his underclassman and helped Tezuka realize that he had accomplished everything he wished to do, and helped Tezuka regain the fun of tennis. In the original series, Yamato was described to be the Legendary Charisma Captain. Appearance During his junior high school years and his 1st year of high school, Yamato had long black hair and wore blue circular glasses. Yamatoscar.png|A scar on his arm 2ad6387793c4e0_full.jpg|Yamato as a captain in Seigaku 344.JPG|Yamato's new look and his old glasses However, in his appearance in New Prince of Tennis, Yamato reappears as a 2nd year high schooler. He takes on a rather different appearance- his hair is dyed orange, he has serveral piercings, and took off his glasses, revealing grey eyes. There is a scar on his right arm due to the operation he had to fix his arm. Personality Eccentric, insightful and gentle, Yamato has a unique "way" of explaining things that even Sumire Ryuzaki has trouble understanding him. However, his way of explanation inspired many people from Seigaku, such as Tezuka and later Ryoma, for instance. In the anime, he stated that he never knew why Coach Ryuzaki chose him for captain, as he thought he was an average player with no leadership skills. In New Prince of Tennis, Yamato reappears as a second year high schooler. He takes on a rather different appearance, although Tezuka stated that Yamato "didn't change a bit." During this time, though he is a rival of Tezuka and the other middle schoolers, he still helps his junior unlock his true potential during the Court Shuffle match. In the anime, he even travels to the mountains to invite Ryoma to watch the match between the two Seigaku captains. History Two Years Prior To The Storyline Yamato was Seigaku's captain the current Seigaku 3rd years' freshman year. During his time as captain, for Seigaku's sake, he recklessly went over his limits and damaged his dominant arm to the point that he would have been unable to play tennis. However, it was around that time when Tezuka joined the club and defeated Yamato 6-0 with his right hand, and while others had their doubts on Tezuka's skills due to Yamato's injured state, Yamato understood that Tezuka was truly skilled. Tezuka became injured by Takesue, a nonregular member of the tennis club, and was on the verge of quitting, but Yamato was able to convince him otherwise, requesting and (successfully) persuading Tezuka to become Seigaku's pillar of support. Thanks to meeting Tezuka, Yamato wished to play tennis once more and went through a harsh rehabilitation process to the point that he had to get surgery for his left arm, but this only made Yamato wish that Tezuka would not become like himself, and wished that Tezuka would play tennis for his own sake. Shortly after, Tezuka and Fuji agreed to play serious match against each other, as Fuji wanted to test himself against the best in the club. As the two engage in their match, Fuji annihalates Tezuka with a love-set. Yamato bare witness to the whole match between the club's two star freshmen. Fuji however was most disappointed with the result and grabbed Tezuka by the collar in frustration. Despite winning, Fuji was well aware that Tezuka's arm had not healed much meaning the match was a waste of time and just far too easy for Fuji with Yamato standing back as he watched Fuji request a rematch however despite Yamato being just outside of the cage of the court and being the only audience to the match, he let himself remain unnoticed by Fuji and Tezuka. One Year Prior to the Storyline Yamato started his first year at the Seigaku High School division. Regionals In the original series, Yamato is mentioned many times through flashbacks until he makes his first appearence in the anime at the Seigaku Training Camp before the Kanto Finals against Rikkaidai. At first, Ryoma, Kaidoh, and Momoshiro run into him in the mountain, believing that he was a stranger that wandered into their camp grounds. Yamato later reappears at the cottage where the 3rd years immediately get up and greet him with a bow, addressing him as "Captain Yamato" while Horio describes him as the Legendary Charisma Captain. Later, Yamato has a long and deep conversation with Ryoma while they were stranded together waiting for other team members to come save him. U-17 Camp 3rd Court Irie, Miyako, Yamato, Matsudaira.png|Yamato and his fellow Court members Yamato in action.jpg|Yamato in action against Tezuka. Yamato meets Ryoma.jpg|Yamato speaking with Ryoma. Yamato first appears in the manga storyline in the U17-Camp as a member of the 3rd Court, implying he has become far stronger than the Prefectural level that he was was two years ago. In the manga, he bumps into Tezuka at the camp while Tezuka is jogging, and the two of them talk, as Yamato is surprised that Tezuka was still able to recgonize him despite his very different look from two years ago. In the anime, Yamato goes to the mountains and invites Ryoma (who remembers him) to watch the match between himself and Tezuka, as it might be Tezuka's last match in Japan for a while. He is placed in Singles 2 in the Team Shuffle between 3rd Court and 5th Court, implying how strong he had become. In this match, he is drawn against Tezuka. Making it a match between Seigaku captains. Tezuka takes a quick and early lead, however Yamato unveils his Gen'u Yume Utsutsu for the first time. A technique which nobody had the camp had seen before as even Irie Kanata comments on how surprising it was to see Yamato use such a technique. With this, he then takes the lead and he and Tezuka are even for a while until Tezuka brings out all of his most powerful techniques which causes Atobe to call out to Tezuka warning him that he will only injure his already fragile shoulder. Yamato then decides to show Tezuka the massive scars of the operation on his right arm which allowed him to play Tennis again, telling Tezuka to make the right choice. With this, Tezuka for the first time smiles in a match, and thanks his former captain. Tezuka unleashes Muga no Kyouchi's Pinnacle of Perfection. With this Tezuka takes the match and wins. Yamato then thanks Tezuka claiming that he had tended to his retirement match. Afterwards, Yamato speaks with Ryoma in the anime, who was glad he came to watch the match. Yamato thinks to himself that the match with Tezuka was a good "retirement match," implying that Yamato was planning to quit tennis. The team Shuffle goes on and Irie allows his match in Singles 1 against Atobe to be a draw for his own amusement, which results in a Reserve match between Oni Juujiro of 5th Court and Takei Toshio of 3rd Court. Oni, being a 1st Stringer level player crushes Takei which results in 5th Court switching places with the 3rd Court. Yamato, though mentioning his retirement, became a member of the 5th Court is chosen as one of the 20 players chosen to play the Top 20 of the All-Japan Junior Camp as they return from their Foreign Expedition. He is chosen to play a member of the Top 10. Tennis Record Playing Style and Techniques His skills as a tennis player is quite a mystery. In the manga, he had lost to Tezuka at one point while Tezuka was still a 1st year. The anime solidifies this further by stating that his level was at a Prefectural level. However, it's clearly obvious that he is skilled when he is re-introduced in the New Prince of Tennis, as he holds prestige as one of the members of the 3rd court, even when his data statistics are all recorded to be below average (scoring a 2 out of 5 in every aspects, as shown in Chapter 37). Yamato is a Counterpuncher. However he was hiding his Gen'u Yume Utsutsu technique from the members of the U-17 Camp. As it is revealed that his match at the camp against Tezuka was the first time anyone at the camp had ever seen it. Implying that he had strength without even using any specific techniques. Gen'u Yume Utsutsu (lit. Illusion becoming a conscious dream) A high-level groundstroke technique which, theoretically, should only be effective against high-level players, this technique uses the fact that the opponent uses their observation skills to predict the strength and course of one's next shot by watching things such as the opponent's movements and breathing to predict what their next course of action need to be. Because of the opponent's high-level analysis, Yamato uses this against the opponent by changing the course of his shot completely during the moment when he hits the ball, which gives the opponent the illusion that the ball they're chasing is the real ball, when the actual ball's course is completely different. However, due to this, it can be inferred that beginner-level players who do not analyze the opponent could probably see where the real ball is. Trivia *Hair: Black and Red brown *He ranked 44th in the 4th Character Popularity Poll Gallery Category:Characters Category:Tennis Player Category:Seigaku Tennis Club Member Category:High Schooler Category:2nd Year High School Category:U-17 Camp Category:Counterpuncher Category:Right-Handed Category:Tokyo Players Category:Kanto Players Category:Has an episode named after them Category:Middle School Captain